Thursday, 23 March 2023

Social housing

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (09:50): The Andrews Labor government is building hundreds of new homes right across the Southern Metropolitan Region as part of the Big Housing Build, and last week I visited a brand new social housing development in Balaclava. A partnership between local, state and federal governments has transformed a car park next to Balaclava station into 46 social housing apartments: one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with specialist disability accommodation as well, housing up to 129 residents next to the train and the tram and close to shops and services. Residents are due to move in next month.

While on site I spoke to Brad, who has been living in a rooming house for 21 years and will soon get a unit of his own, and the smile on his face said it all. These units are state-of-the-art and brand new – the benefit you get from building from the ground up. They are built to livable and accessible design standards, with wide doors and zero-level entry to all the units and balconies, and they have an 8-star energy efficiency rating.

Sadly, this is where some, like the Liberals, wanted us to have a car park instead of new social housing. That shows you their priorities. It is also disappointing that others, including the Greens, have been campaigning against new social housing developments across Melbourne. The kinds of benefits we see here you can only get by building from the ground up to modern and accessible standards. These new homes in Balaclava are seriously impressive, and we look forward to seeing more of this sort of social housing right across Melbourne under this government.